Where and when was Amelia Earhart last seen? Researches zero in on Nikumaroro Island to solve mysterious disappearance after 88 years

The last flight of Amelia Earhart stands as one of the most enduring mysteries of the 20th century. Now, 88 years later, a new mission to a remote island in the Pacific may finally explain what became of the aviator and her navigator, Fred Noonan.

Earhart, the first woman to fly alone across the Atlantic Ocean, disappeared on July 2, 1937, during her quest to fly around the world.

About 22,000 miles into her journey of nearly 29,000 miles, Earhart and Noonan took off from Lae, New Guinea, heading toward Howland Island in pursuit of refueling before heading to Hawaii. To complete their journey, the duo had to travel 2,600 miles across the Pacific Ocean.

Amelia Earhart's Lost Plane May Have Been Found, Says Pilot Who Spent $11 Million to Fund Search pic.twitter.com/0xLeavjIjj

— People (@people) January 29, 2024

According to People, their final human contact was with the US Coast Guard cutter Itasca, located offshore near Howland. In a series of voice radio transmissions, Earhart supposedly filed a weather report and said that they were running low on fuel.

In her last transmission, she supposedly said, “We’re running north and south.” Afterward, all contact was lost. An extensive search by the US Navy and Coast Guard was unable to locate the Lockheed Electra plane or the two aviators.

The official verdict at the time was that Earhart’s plane had run out of fuel and crashed in the Pacific (People). A longstanding theory posits that Earhart and Noonan crash-landed on Gardner Island (now Nikumaroro), an uninhabited island in the western Pacific.

A look into the speculations revolving around Amelia Earhart’s death as a new expedition fuels hope

There are some fascinating finds that support the speculations that the two aviators got started on Nikumaroro Island. There have been artifacts found on Nikumaroro, such as a shoe from a woman and a compact case, a medicine vial, and even a jar of freckle cream that could have belonged to Earhart.

Interestingly, the freckle cream is said to be the same as Dr. C. H. Berry’s Freckle Ointment, available in the early 1900s. “She had freckles,” NBC’s Tom Costello said in a recent report, lending credibility to the notion that Earhart might have lived on the island for a while.

Purdue-backed team to search for Amelia Earhart’s lost plane in remote Pacific island https://t.co/3gAnX0V5mJ pic.twitter.com/pyIx3ZtqtO

— New York Post (@nypost) July 2, 2025

According to reports, the radio signals detected in the region soon after Earhart went missing also indicate that Nikumaroro could have served as a landing pad.

Now, a joint expedition by the Purdue Research Foundation and Archaeological Legacy Institute is hoping to investigate what they call the “Taraia Object,” a visual anomaly on Nikumaroro that some believe is a piece of Earhart’s missing plane. The team will leave the Marshall Islands on 5th November 2025, spending five days on the island before arriving back on the 21st of November.

"What we have here is maybe the greatest opportunity ever to finally close the case... With such a great amount of very strong evidence, we feel we have no choice but to move forward and hopefully return with proof." Richard Pettigrew, ALI’s executive director said in a recent press release.

On the other hand, Ric Gillespie, who has conducted numerous searches in the region, believes that the object sighted on satellite images could simply be a coconut tree.

If the November mission finds conclusive evidence, a follow-up mission in 2026 is on the books. As the Purdue Research Foundation and Archaeological Legacy Institute go ahead with their plan, the world is waiting to see whether this effort will finally provide answers to the mysterious disappearance of Amelia Earhart.